> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.usejimo.com/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.usejimo.com/docs/getting-started/install-jimo/identify-your-users.md).

# Identify your users

Identifying is telling Jimo "this visitor is user 1234 of my app". It is the difference between a snippet that shows the same thing to everyone and a setup where you target a plan, measure per account, and pay for the users you actually have. This page explains what to ask for and how to check it; the code is in the [Identify users SDK guide](https://help.usejimo.com/docs/for-developers/for-developers/sdk-guides/identify-users).

***

## What happens without it

<figure><img src="https://2794860263-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FKzAcDWQbK1gKbpra7bkb%2Fuploads%2Fr7Qok4XsNtSDn9LfVWHE%2Fn17-one-person-one-profile.png?alt=media&#x26;token=6291a489-f216-4160-87e2-3c87d4775fc5" alt="Without identify, three devices make three anonymous profiles; with it, one profile"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

The snippet alone creates an anonymous profile per browser. Three consequences:

#### No targeting on who they are

Segments on plan, role, company or signup date have nothing to work with. You can still target by page and by behavior in Jimo.

#### Inflated MAU

An anonymous user counts again on every new device and every cleared cache. Internal testers, QA, and demo accounts count too.

#### Broken continuity

"Show once" is per browser. The same person sees the welcome tour again on their phone.

## What to ask your developer for

<figure><img src="https://2794860263-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FKzAcDWQbK1gKbpra7bkb%2Fuploads%2FSrxgAqCoxhRtpzbzUNAv%2F09-set-then-identify.png?alt=media&#x26;token=f1ac3bc5-30ae-414b-a005-a844c86cb0b8" alt="Set attributes first, identify last"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Five things, in this order of importance.

#### A stable, unguessable ID

Your user's primary key or UUID. Not an email (it changes), not a sequential number (it can be guessed).

#### Email and name

Pushed with `set` so they show in Users & Segments and in experiences.

#### `set` before `identify`, once per session

The commands are queued and applied after the profile is initialized, so the user data has to be in the queue first. Call `identify` at login, and never with a different ID during the same session: changing the ID re-initializes the profile.

#### `storage:reset` at logout

So a shared computer does not carry the previous user over.

#### No identify during admin impersonation

If your support staff log in as a customer, skip the identify call (or do not load Jimo) for that session; otherwise the staff member's clicks land on the customer's profile and can trigger experiences for the wrong person.

Attributes (plan, role, company) and events come right after: [Attributes and events](/docs/getting-started/install-jimo/attributes-and-events.md).

## Force identify

In [Settings > Installation](/docs/settings/installation.md), **Identification** tab. When it is on, Jimo starts only after an identify call, and no session is ever logged as anonymous. Turn it on when all your users are authenticated. Keep it off if anonymous visitors (a public site, a signup page) should see experiences.

<figure><img src="https://2794860263-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FKzAcDWQbK1gKbpra7bkb%2Fuploads%2F6eo3RtdosES0IBocGq5V%2Fsettings-installation-identification.png?alt=media&#x26;token=780a414d-0cd1-4393-9f24-2c7a9302773c" alt="Settings, Installation, Identification tab"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

One side effect to know: with Force identify on, a page where the identify call does not run shows nothing, including the Troubleshoot tool. "Jimo does nothing on this page" is then the expected behavior, not a bug.

## What counts as a monthly active user

A MAU is a unique user who loaded a page with Jimo initialized during the month. The rules that surprise people:

| Counts                                           | Because                                                                                     |
| ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Anonymous visitors, once per device              | No ID to deduplicate on                                                                     |
| Your own team, QA, demo accounts                 | Jimo does not know they are internal. Target them out with a segment, but they still count. |
| Impersonation sessions                           | They identify as the customer                                                               |
| Staging and production users of the same project | Same project, same count                                                                    |

Pages where Jimo is not initialized do not count: [Manual initialization](https://help.usejimo.com/docs/for-developers/for-developers/sdk-guides/manual-initialization) lets you load Jimo only where experiences live. The reading of the MAU dashboard and what happens at the limit are in [MAU](/docs/settings/mau-monthly-active-users.md).

## How to check it worked

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Log in as yourself

Log in to your app as yourself.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Find your account in Users

Open [Users & Segments > Users](/docs/analyze/users-and-segments/audience/users.md). Your account is there with name and email. The "Anonymous" split at the top of the page should be close to zero once Force identify is on.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Check the Troubleshoot tool

Open the Troubleshoot tool on your app (`Cmd Shift L` or `Ctrl Shift L` once enabled in Settings > Troubleshoot): the user panel shows your name, ID and attributes. See [Troubleshooting](/docs/settings/troubleshooting.md).
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

## Identity verification

Without it, anyone can open the browser console and identify as someone else. Verification makes Jimo reject an ID that your backend did not sign. It is a few lines server-side and a third argument on the identify call: [CSP and identity verification](/docs/getting-started/install-jimo/csp-and-identity-verification.md).

## Related

* [Identify users](https://help.usejimo.com/docs/for-developers/for-developers/sdk-guides/identify-users), the SDK guide with the code
* [MAU](/docs/settings/mau-monthly-active-users.md)
* [Users & Segments](/docs/analyze/users-and-segments.md)